This guy look like he's bleaching?

[sfboarders]

Attached is a pic of my BTA. He's all the way on the left side of my tank between a rock and my overflow. He's been there since I've gotten him. I have 6x54W T5's so I have adequate lighting. He doesn't spit out any brown stuff or close up. The mouth is sealed tight. Inside center seems to be white and his tentacles are a light purple with green tips. Does this guy look like he's bleaching? Does he need more light?

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Just a bit. Stop feeding for a month. I found that overfeeding harms anemones. Let him be for a month and see what happens. You lighting sounds OK.

 

[clowns101]

He looks a bit light.But I would feed just a little bit.Help him get some nutrients in his system.

 

[sfboarders]

Ok you guys have opposite answers. Not sure which to do. I feed this guy a couple pieces of PE Mysis every 3 or so days. Am I overfeeding or underfeeding?

 

[1fishkeeper]

I would feed once a week and see if that helps it.

 

[elegance coral]

I would say under feeding. If it's not getting the nutrition it needs from zooxanthellae, and you're not feeding often, where is it going to get its nutrition from? I seriously doubt there is enough dissolved nutrients in your water to sustain it.
IMHO, when an anemone is bleached, food becomes critical. Zooxanthellae receive nutrients from the waste of the anemone. If the anemone is not eating, how much waste can it be producing? So, if you hold back of feeding, you are not only starving the anemone, but you're starving the zooxanthellae as well. I have never seen an adverse effect I could link to an anemone over eating. In fact, the more I feed, the healthier my anemones appear.

 

[sfboarders]

Still at 50/50. elegance_coral thanks for the specific info.

Anybody else?

 

[sfboarders]

Anybody else with more advice?

 

[AD87]

I dont think your overfeeding.

 

[Ryno368]

i feed my BTA once a day with a few squirts of frozen mysis and frozen formula1 mixed with some garlic and he is doing wonderful.

also every week i chop up a frozen raw shrimp and give him pieces

 

[sfboarders]

Just an update. I've been feeding this guy small amounts everyday. As you can see by the pic attached the color has changed. His tips are glowing again.

 

[bues0022]

I'd trust both clowns101 and elegance coral - they know what they're doing with clowns and nems. I agree, feed more to help bring it's health up.

What are you feeding it?

 

[ocellaris123]

Your feeding schedule sounds good. Like others have said, if it is bleached you want to feed extra to sustain it while it regains a healthy population of zooanthallae again. I too have never had adverse effects while feeding bubble anemones too often. I used to feed almost every day to no ill effects.

 

[sfboarders]

I'd trust both clowns101 and elegance coral - they know what they're doing with clowns and nems. I agree, feed more to help bring it's health up.

What are you feeding it?

Im feed the nem PE Mysis.

 

[sfboarders]

This guy is purple now but the tips are no longer green. Am I overfeeding? I am still feeding him PE Mysis every other day. Other than that he looks healthy.

 

[Mavrk]

I would say under feeding. If it's not getting the nutrition it needs from zooxanthellae, and you're not feeding often, where is it going to get its nutrition from? I seriously doubt there is enough dissolved nutrients in your water to sustain it.
IMHO, when an anemone is bleached, food becomes critical. Zooxanthellae receive nutrients from the waste of the anemone. If the anemone is not eating, how much waste can it be producing? So, if you hold back of feeding, you are not only starving the anemone, but you're starving the zooxanthellae as well. I have never seen an adverse effect I could link to an anemone over eating. In fact, the more I feed, the healthier my anemones appear.

I agree wholeheartedly. A lack of zooxanthellae = a lack of food. If you don't feed it, you risk starving it. When an anemone starves, it literally consumes itself. Why risk killing it when there is no risk by feeding it more.

When I got my RBTA, it was bleached. It began to look like yours after feeding it for a while. It eventually darkened up and I can feed it once a week as I normally would.

 

[Mavrk]

This guy is purple now but the tips are no longer green. Am I overfeeding? I am still feeding him PE Mysis every other day. Other than that he looks healthy.

Sorry, didn't get to the bottom of the thread before answering ... Can you supply a picture? I'd say if he is coloring up, you could switch to every 3 days. You are not overfeeding because it is not at full color yet. Have you tried silversides?

 

[elegance coral]

This guy is purple now but the tips are no longer green. Am I overfeeding? I am still feeding him PE Mysis every other day. Other than that he looks healthy.

What would be a bad side effect of "over feeding"?

IMHO, the only way you can over feed, is to give the anemone more food than it can digest at one time. If it is digesting all the food it's fed, then you're not over feeding. If you give the anemone a large chunk of food, it will often discharge it before it is fully digested. This wastes a great deal of energy, venom (which is very biologically expensive to produce), and pollutes the water. I guess this could be called "over feeding". Otherwise, I don't believe you can over feed. Anemones don't suffer from obesity like we do.

When all my anemones are healthy and well established, I don't feed every day. Basically because I'm lazy. When I have a newly introduced anemone, or one that's been weakened for some reason, I do try to feed every day. I don't feed much. Just a good sized squirt of mysis, small krill, or blender much from a turkey baster. When I have a new guy I'm feeding every day, I usually feed my resident anemones as well. I think my anemones like it when I add a new guy. With the extra feeding they expand more, their colors become more vibrant, and they just appear to be healthier.